Q1 2021 ritual update

February 01, 2021

Welcome to Corgi-Class Starship, the newsletter that wants to know how it's February already and whether these allergy attacks are a fair tradeoff for the rain 

You'll Like This

Update(s) on thing(s) I made or somehow helped to bring about.Idea Factory GiveawayWe're gonna shake the dust off the recording machinery and get it rolling again soon!Instead of sending anyone at all a valentine, why not consider putting a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Apple Podcasts rating in for the show instead? They'll understand.Instant Band Night 15: Gone Til NovemberNow that proven vaccines exist, let's wait til November and hopefully -- hopefully! -- we'll see you all at the next Instant Band Night.Facebook event's still there in case you (like me) can't yet escape the vortex of Facebook* * s t a y   h o m e   / /   s t a y   h e a l t h y * * 

Medium Ramble

Skippable if you're in a hurry.We get an email from Kaiser every six days or so that says:

  • Don't call us, we'll call you when it's your turn for the vaccine

  • Our ability to administer vaccines is dependent on the supply of vaccines, which is not a thing we control

  • We don't like it either

The last two points are repeated about 5x throughout the body of the message. "We don't control the supply. The supply is not in our control. Supply -- which is not under our control -- determines the pace of vaccination. Supply! It's a thing! We don't control it! Hey, we would love to vaccinate you just as soon as we get some, which again is not up to us." This should tell you everything you need to know about the utterly fucking shambolic vaccine rollout taking place here in California, where May The Odds Be Ever In Your Favor!! seems to be the whole of the law. Not that they have a lot to work with, since the Trump administration literally never had a plan the whole time. Is it standard policy to put dead ex-presidents in Arlington? When Trump finally buys it, they're going to have to bury his ass in a secret spot in the fucking dead of night, because when the location of his grave gets out, I guarantee you it's going to turn into a public toilet 24/7 whether they want it to or not. 

#dadthoughts

Also skippable if you're in a hurry or don't care. No judgment.Bedtime Ritual Updates for 2021: New ProcedureBe advised that this update supersedes all bedtime guidance previously issued.Once toothbrushing and PJ rituals have been completed:

  1. Place Quentin in the crib and arrange his blankets.

  2. Turn on the white noise machine.

  3. Turn off the main bedroom light.

  4. Turn on the doggie nightlight.

  5. Sit next to the side of Quentin's crib.

  6. Quentin will likely ask you to hold either (a) his hand or (b) his toes through the bars of the crib; comply with this request.

  7. Tell Quentin one (1) story; available choices include but may not be limited to:

    1. The Golden Gate Bridge

    2. Tom Thumb and the Romulans

    3. Daddy's College Band

    4. The Story About the Bunnies That Auntie Nia Knows, With Which We (His Parents) Are Only Partially Familiar At Best

  8. Sing Quentin one (1) song; available choices include but may not be limited to:

    1. The Railroad Song

    2. Jingle Bells

    3. The Made-Up Song About a Boy Named Quentin With a Variable Number of Verses

    4. Jingle Bell Rock

  9. Tell Quentin goodnight and exit the room.

As with all previous versions of the Bedtime Ritual, these steps are subject to change at any time; thank you for your consideration in this matter. 

Fascination Corner

I read a lot of newsletters; here are some links that caught my eye.

  • I need to mark this moment in time when a bunch of Redditors gouged huge bloody chunks of hide out of hedge funds worth billions. (Vice) If you're anything like me and this all sounds like Martian to you, I did find this seven-part video thread illuminating and concise. (@andraydomise on Twitter) This take from the New Republic is good, too, but the headline really says it all: "The Gamestop Saga Shows How Casino Capitalism Is Eating the World" (~$New Republic) 

  • MAGA chuds who stormed the Capitol are getting outed to the Feds by the people they picked fights with on Facebook. [chef_kiss.gif] (HuffPo) 

  • P.W. Singer has "Three Steps to Fight Online Disinformation and Extremism" -- he's not wrong. (Defense One) 

  • Here, have a nice longread about grizzly bears. (Hakai) 

  • Jesus fucking Christ: the increase in wealth since the pandemic started for the 10 richest motherfuckers on the planet could have supported all of us through it and paid for vaccines for everybody. Read the actual article if you've been out of touch with your inner rage monster. (BBC) 

  • Scientists collected 500 samples of sourdough starters from 4 different continents and did a big study, and now you can read about it! (NC State) (Paper) 

  • The erosion of trust on a societal level costs us; how do we reestablish it? By .......... trusting people?? Sounds fake but okay. (FS) 

  • The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense has issued a new report with recommendations for dealing with biological threats that looks a lot more digestible than the last one I read, which I weirdly can't seem to find anywhere but am positive I mentioned in a back issue of this newsletter ages and ages ago. (Apollo Program for Biodefense) 

  • Olympia has a civilian counselor-type unit in place to deal with some problems that used to involve cops; a good sign, but there should be more of 'em. (Marshall Project) 

  • Here's a list of 56 things to do to fight lockdown boredom. (Guardian) 

  • We could get to net zero carbon by 2050 for a dollar a day. (Lawrence Berkeley National Lab) (Paper) 

  • Facebook says it'll stop recommending political groups to users, but do we ................ believe them? (Reuters) 

  • Vaccinated People Are Going to Hug Each Other. (~$Atlantic) 

  • Computer, enhance: this de-noising technique looks like witchcraft, honestly. (Texas A&M) 

  • At least one city may have figured out the affordable housing situation? (Fast Company) 

  • "Am I The Asshole" questions from parents of young children. (McSweeney's) 

  • The shark population is crashing and we don't have a lot of time left to save them. ($NYT) 

  • Huh: hotel restaurant dining in empty hotel rooms? (Eater) 

  • Let's all strive to lead the kind of lives that lead to an obituary like that of Margaret M. DeAdder (this reminds me I should probably find and designate the photo of myself that I want everyone to use now). (Chronicle Herald) 

  • The origin of flowering plants confounded Darwin so much he called their emergence in the fossil record an "abominable mystery," but now scientists think they've figured out when they truly arrived. (U of Bristol) 

  • Annalee Newitz wants to remind everyone that urban collapse doesn't actually look like what you think it looks like. (~$Atlantic) 

  • An experimental technique to jump-start the brains of coma patients is showing some early promise. (UCLA) 

  • Food waste can be used to help grow crops better. (UC Riverside) 

A Fictional Thing

Something made-up that somehow suggested itself to me and which I could not escape.A band and their albumThese Living Woods, It'll Simmer Down One Day 

Thanks

If you've read this far, I thank you. Feel free to forward this to someone you like, or inflict upon someone you don't.